Via The Torch, here’s a rundown of some amusing speech codes at various colleges and universities. Here are some that I particularly like:

* At Jacksonville State University in Alabama, students can be punished if they “offend” anyone “on university owned or operated property.” [But offending people is apparently fine off university property.]
* At the University of Mississippi, “offensive language is not to be used” over the telephone. [Exactly how do they check that?]
* At Macalester College, harassment includes “speech that makes use of inappropriate words or non-verbals.” [So, I can’t mime “You’re a loser” to somebody.]
* Rutgers University prohibits “‘joking’ comments (between friends, roommates, floormates)…which may be racist, sexist, heterosexist (homophobic),” even when “it is believed or discovered that the perpetrator(s) has no specific or general intent to harm an individual or group.” [Yikes. Thoughtcrime, anyone?]

And my favorite of the bunch:

* Finally, William Paterson University simply forbids “[b]ehavior that annoys.”

I don’t think there’d be anybody left at my college, including me, if that rule were enforced here.